Hydraulic operator traverse mechanism



Nov. 13, 1951 K. E. SMITH 2,575,031

HYDRAULIC OPERATED TRAVERSE MECHANISM Filed 001;. 8, 1946 FIG]. 11

PRIOR ART F IG 2 I 48 /J8 l Al- 6 o o 19' o o 52149 F- 2o 1 13 Patented Nov. is, real HYDRAULIC OPERATOR 'mavnnsn MECHANISM Kenneth E. Smith, Kingsport, Tenn., asslgnor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 8, 1946, Serial No. 701,945

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to a continuous filament. spinning machine.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a hydraulically-operated traverse mechanism for such a machine.

. A further object of the invention is the provision of a-builder-motion'mechanism controlled by the hydraulic device for controlling the traverse mechanism to provide wound bobbins of the desired shape.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a hydraulic-operated traverse mechanism which is capable of high traverse speeds, more uniform speeds, and quicker reversals than prior operating devices.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of, a control valve for regulating the speed of operationof said traverse mechanism.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a hydraulically-operated mechanism, and a builder-motion mechanism which are simple in construction, comprise few parts of rugged construction, easy to operate and highly effective in use.

To these andother ends, the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel fetures being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a partial view of a portion of a continuous filament spinning machine, showing a mechanically-operated traverse mechanism of the type used prior to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a hydraulically-operated traverse mechanism constructed in-accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a builder-motion mechanism of the present invention, taken from the side opposite to that illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a double cam arrangement to provide both ends or the bobbin with the same or different shapes.

Similar reference numerals throughout the various views indicate the same parts.

Fig. lshows a mechanically-operated traverse mechanism of the type used prior to the present invention for spinning a continuous filament II, and winding the latter onto a series of aligned rotating bobbins l2, only two of which are shown. Each filament H is passed over or through a thread guide I: carried by an upper traverse bar M which is supported at intervals on the upright members or less IS; A lower traverse bar one arm l9 of a bell-crank lever pivoted 9.17 2D;

the other arm 2| of the bell crank-being piv; otally connected at 22 to a horizontal levero'r he: 23 which connects all the bell cranks, only'twdol which are shown.

It will now be apparent from an'inspectioiioi Fig. 1 that if the bar or lever 231sreciprocatei! horizontally, the traverse bars 14 and I6 willf'be reciprocated vertically. To secure this reel-pro: cating action of the bar 23, the left end of'ftl'ic latter is pivotally connectedat 24 to'the'i'igiit arm 25 of a bellcrank lever pivoted at '28:" The other or left arm 21 of this bellcrank[lever connected at 28 to one end of an arm 29, thefbther end of which is pivotally connected at 28 to'fa' walking beam 3| pivoted at 32. The otheren'd of the walking beam carries a roller 33 w iehem gages the surface 34 of a heart-shaped cairr'il,

which is rotated at uniform speed by any able mechanism, not shown. Thus by means 'of the rotating cam 35, acontinuous vertical: ije-'- ciprocating motion is imparted to the traverse bars I4 and iii to wind the. filaments ll ontoth bobbins l2 in superimposed layers, all or which is well known to those in the art. j

With such an arrangement, the shape jottile wound bobbin is formed by varying the rate Id motion of the traverse by means of the, shape the driving cam 35, while the stroke remains the full length of the bobbin. The heart-shaped cam is designed to accelerate the traverse mechanism at the top portion of the traverse .so as towhat is known in the trade as a's'tandard bottle? bobbin. Such a mechanism is not, however; adapted to high traverse speeds and does not prof vide uniform speed or quick reversals.

In order to provide these advantages, thej hyf draulically-operated traverse mechanismfillus trated in Fig. 2, was developed, parts coriepio'hd} ing to those in Fig. 1 being designated bylthe same numerals. In the construction ofthe present the lower ends. of each pair of legs 15 and; are confined bythe -arm la the cooperating bell crank lever, as shown at l9, Fig. 2. However, such confining by the arms i9 is not necessary with the slower operating device illustrated in Fig. 1. By thus confining the.legs l and II in the arm i9, higher speeds and smoother operation are possible than with the prior structure, illustrated in Fig. l. The bell-crank lever connected to the left-hand legs i5 and i8 has the arm 36 thereof pivotally connected at its free end 39 to a horizontal rod 45, the other end of which is connected to a piston 4| adapted to reciprocate in a cylinder 42. The arm 38 is preferably, but not necesarily, longer than arm 2| of Fig. 1. Oil, or other suitable operating liquid. is supplied, at the required presssure, from a container 43 by means of a pump 44 driven by an electric motor 45. The oil is pumped by the pump 44 through a line 46 to a flow control valve 41, which, in effect, meters the oil, thereby determining the reciprocating speed of the piston 4|. However, this regulating valve 41 does not, per se, constitute a part of the present invention. From the regulating valve 41, the oil flows through a pipe 48 to a four-way snap-action valve 49 which, in turn, is connected by pipes 50 and 5| to the opposite ends of the cylinder 42, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The valve 49 has a control lever 52 so arranged that when the lever is in one position, oil will be fed tothe right end of the cylinder 42 through line 59, and when the lever is in the other position, oil will be fed through the line 5| to the left end of the cylinder. Thus by moving the lever 52 from one position to the other, the flow of oil to the cylinder may be controlled and the piston 4| reciprocated. This control valve 49 is also a commercial product and does not, per se, constitute a part of the present invention. The two valves 41 and 49 do, however, control the flow of oil to the cylinder 42, the valve 49 controlling the direction of oil flow and the valve 41 regulating the rate of flow. Also the valve 41 gives easy variation in speed and may be adjusted to regulate the rate of reciprocation of the piston 4| to any desired number of cycles within the limit of the valve.

In order to control the shape of the wound bobbin, the present invention provides a buildermotion mechanism generally indicated by the numeral 55 and shown in detail in Fig. 3. This mechanism automatically varies the length of the transverse between selected limits, for example, from 8" to 6" and back to 8" although other limits can be used to provide the desired "bottle" build on the bobbin. Thus the traverse runs at a constant rate, and the shape of the bobbin is formed by varying the length of the stroke.

To secure this result, the builder-motion mechanism 55 is carried by a plate 56 connected by an arm 51 to a rod 58 secured to and extending leftwardly from the piston 4| so that the mechanism is operated by and is movable as a unit with the piston 4|, as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2. The plate 56 is provided with a depending pin or finger 59, and a shaft 59 which extends downwardly from the plate in spaced relation to but in horizontal alignment with the pin 59. The lower end of the shaft 69 has mounted thereon a suitably shaped cam 6|. This cam 6| and the pin 59 are positioned on opposite sides of the control lever 52 of the snap-action valve 49.

It will now be apparent that as the piston 4| is moved to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2. the plate 56 will also move to the right to bring pin 59 into engagement with lever 52 to move the latter to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2. This position of lever 52 will allow oil from the valve 49 to flow through line 59 to the right end of cylinder 42 to move the piston 4| to the left. Such movement will finally bring the surface 62 of the cam 6| into engagement with the lever 52 to move the latter to the full line position shown in Fig. 2. Such movement will out off the supply of oil to the line 50, but will simultaneously and automatically connect line 5| to the oil supply of valve 49 so that the oil under pressure will be supplied to the left end of the cylinder. Thus the movements of the piston 4| serve to control the operation of the snap valve 49, and the length of travel of the piston is determined by the adjustment of cam 6|.

In order to provide the varying stroke, mentioned above, to give the "bottle" build. means are provided for progressively rotating shaft .60 to simultaneously rotate cam 6|. It will be apparent that as the latter rotates, the distance between the lever 52 and the cam surface 62 will also vary. If this distance changes, the point or time of cut-off of the line 5| also varies so as to alter the length of the stroke of the piston 4|, and hence a vertical movement of the traverse mechanism, above described. Obviously the build of the bobbin may be altered by providing various shaped cam faces 62 so that by merely changing the contour of the cams, various shaped bobbins can be secured. Therefore, the cams shown in the drawings are merely illustrative, as it is contemplated that various modifications may be used without departing from the invention.

To secure this adjustment of cam 6|, the upper.

end of shaft 60 has mounted thereon a ratchet 63 engaged by a pawl 64 pivotally carried by a block 65- secured to a shaft 66 slidably mounted in spaced bearings 6'! formed on the ends of arms 68 secured to or formed integral with the plate 56, as best shown in Fig. 3. A spring 69 is interposed between the block 65 and the righthand bearing 61 and tends to move the shaft 66, block 65 and pawl 64, to the left as viewed in Fig. 3, or to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2. Such movement will cause pawl 64 to slide over the teeth of the ratchet 63. When, however, the shaft 66 is moved in the opposite direction, against the action of spring 69, the pawl 64 will engage the ratchet 63 to rotate the latter. Such rotation is transmitted by shaft 60 to similarly rotate cam 6| to vary .or change the spacing between surface 62 and lever 52 for the purpose above described. The ratchet may be turned one tooth or any desired number of teeth during each operation. By thus progressively varying the distance between the cam 6| and the lever 52, the length of the stroke of piston 4| and hence the traverse mechanism may be similarly varied to provide the desired build of the bobbin. An indexing stop 10 secured to the snap valve 49, or to any other part of the mechanism, is positioned in the path of the shaft 66 so that when the builder-motion mechanism is moved to the left, Fig. 3, as a unit with the piston, the left end ll of the shaft 66 will engage and be stopped by the stop 70. Further leftward movement of the piston and builder-motion mechanism, as seen in Fig. 3, will cause a rightward movement of the shaft 66 relative to the I plate I. This relative movement will bring the pawl 84 into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 63 to rotate the latter and hence the cam ii for the purpose above described.

Thus each time the piston ll is moved to the right, Fig. 2, a slight rotation is imparted to cam ii. As the latter is progressively rotated, the space between the cam surface 62 and the lever I3 is gradually decreased until the minimum spacing is secured, then the spacing is gradually increased by further rotation of the cam until the cam reaches the point shown in Fig. 3 when the maximum spacing is reached. Thus by gradually varying the position of the cam 6i, the stroke of the piston ll is changed and the vertical reciprocal movement oi the traverse bars I and I. is correspondingly altered to change the stroke to secure the desired bottle build.

In the embodiment above described, only a single adjustable cam BI is used to provide the desired bottle or tapered form at the top of the bobbin only. As mentioned above, the exact shape of this taper may be altered by changing the shape of the cam face 62. However, it may be desirable, sometimes, to provide such a "bottle build at both ends of the bobbin. In order to secure this double-end result, the dual cam arrangement shown in Fig. 4 may be used, the

second cam being designated by El but parts corresponding to the other figures are designated by the same numerals. The two cams are mounted on a plate 56 connected to thecrod B8 of the piston M. The larger cam 5! controls the build at the top end of the bobbin while the smaller cam M controls the build at the bottom end.

The cam Bi and ti are positioned on opposite sides of the valve lever 52 to move the latter alternately to cause reciprocation of the piston H, as explained above. In order to alter progressively the positions of both cams SI and M, Fig. 4, a modified indexing stop it is positioned between and-in the path of a pair of indexing fingers 80 and Ii carried by the shafts 66 so when the plate It is reciprocated by the piston, the fingers 30 and II will alternately engage the surfaces l5 and 16 of the stop 10 to move the shafts 66 to adjust cams 6i and iii in the manner above described. Such adjustments of the cams alter the positions thereof relative to the valve lever .52 to change thereby the stroke of the piston in both directions. The throw of the shafts 66 can be altered by adjusting the stop 10, in any suitable and well known manner, so that the fingers 80 and ll engage at diilerent positions along the surfaces and 16, the higher up these surfaces the fingers strike, the greater the movements of the ratchets 63 and hence the cams 6i and 6|, as will be apparent. The cams may be the same size and shape to provide identical ends of the bobbins, or the cams may be of different sizes, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to provide bobbin ends of difl'erent contours. The term bottle" build mentioned above is merely illustrative, as the actual build of the bobbin will depend, of 'course, on the particular shaped cam used, and the cams may be altered or varied to provide a wide variety of builds. Also, by means of the double cam arrangement, the shape of the bobbin at both ends may be the same or different depending on the relative sizes and shapes of the two cams.

Thus by means of the hydraulically-operated traverse mechanism of the present invention, higher and more uniform traverse speeds are secured, and quicker reverses are provided. Also the builder-motion mechanisms enable the shape of the bobbin to be controlled automatically.

- While certain embodiments of the invention. have been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number of ways. This application is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details disclosed, but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a continuous-filament spinning machine, the combination, of a rotating bobbin on which a filament is'to be wound, traverse mechanism reciprocating axially of said bobbin to distribute said filament thereon in a plurality of superimposed layers, a liquid actuated reciprocating device, means operatively connecting said device to said traverse mechanism to reciprocate the latter, indexing means including an adjustable cam movable as a unit with said device for operating said connecting means, and a fixed stop independent of said cam and engageable by said indexing means upon reciprocation of said device for progressively changing the position of said cam to change the stroke of said device gradually to alter the axial movement of said traverse mechanism.

2. In a continuous-filament spinning machine, the combination, of a rotating bobbin on which a filament is to be wound, traverse mechanism reciprocating axially of said bobbin to distribute said filament thereon in a plurality of superimposed layers, a liquid actuated device comprising a reciprocating piston operatively connected to said traverse mechanism to reciprocate the latter, a supply of liquid under pressure, a valve for alternately supplying said liquid to the opposite ends of said device to reciprocate said piston, a pair of spaced actuating members movable with said device and adapted to turn to operate said valve to supply said liquid alternately to the opposite ends of said device, pawl and ratchet means connected to and movable as a unit with said de-- vice-for moving one of said members relative to said valve to vary the time of operation of said valve to change the stroke of said piston progressively to alter gradually the axial movement of said traverse mechanism, and fixed means for actuating said pawl and ratchet means upon each reciprocation of said piston to change thereby the position of said one member in timed relation to the winding of said filament on said bobbin.

3. In a continuous-filament spinning machine, the combination, of a rotating bobbin on which a filament is to be wound, traverse mechanism reciprocating axially of said bobbin to distribute said filament thereon in a plurality of superimposed layers, a liquid actuated device comprising a reciprocating piston operatively connected to said traverse mechanism to reciprocate the latter, a supply of liquid under pressure, a valve for alternately supplying said liquid to the opposite ends of said device to reciprocate said piston, a control lever for said valve,- a builder motion mechanism connected to and reciprocated as a unit with said piston, said builder motion comprising a fixed finger adapted to engage and move said lever when said piston is moved in one direction to control the flow of liquid to one end of said device, a cam carried by said builder motion and having a lever contacting surface to.

opposite direction to control the flow of liquid to the other end of said device, a ratchet operatively connected to said cam to adjust the position of said surface relative to said lever to vary the distance therebetween to alter the stroke of said piston in said other direction to change the axial travel of said traverse mechanism, a pawl connected to and movable with said builder motion for actuating said ratchet, and fixed means operative each time said piston is moved in said one direction to engage said pawl withsaidratchet to move said latter to vary progressively the distance between said cam surface and said lever to change gradually the axial movement of said traverse mechanism.

4. In a continuous-filament spinning machine, the combination, of a rotating bobbin on which a filament is to be wound, traverse mechanism reciprocating axially of said bobbin to distribute said filament thereon in a plurality of superimposed layers, a liquid actuated device comprising a reciprocating piston operatively connected to said traverse mechanism to reciprocate the latter, a supply of liquid under pressure, a valve for alternately supplying said liquid to the opposite ends of said device to reciprocate said piston, a control lever for said valve, a builder motion mechanism connected to and reciprocated as a unit with said piston, said builder motion comprising a fixed finger adapted to engage and move said lever when said piston is'moved in one direction to control the fiow'of liquid to one end of said device, a cam carried by said builder motion and having a lever contacting surface to move said lever when said piston is moved in the opposite direction to control the fiow of liquid to the other end of said device, a ratchet carried by said builder motion operatively connected to said cam to adjust the position of said surface relative to said lever to vary the distance therebetween to alter the stroke of said piston in said other direction to change the axial travel of said traverse mechanism, a pawl carried by said builder motion for actuating said ratchet, a fixed stop operative each time said piston is moved in said one direction to engage said pawl with said ratchet to move said latter to vary progressively the distance between said cam surface and said lever to change gradually the axial movement of said traverse mechanism, and a regulating valve in the supply line to said first valve to control the rate of supply of liquid to said first valve to regulate the rate of reciprocation of said piston and said traverse mechanism.

5. In a continuous-filament spinning machine. the combination, of a rotating bobbin on which a filament is to be wound, traverse mechanism reciprocating axially of said bobbin to distribute said filament thereon in a plurality of superimposed layers, a liquid actuated device comprising a reciprocating piston operatively connected to said traverse mechanism to reciprocate the latter, a supply of liquid under pressure, a valve for alternately supplying said liquid to the opposite ends of said device to reciprocate said piston, a control lever for said valve, a builder motion mechanism connected to and reciprocated as a unit with said piston, said builder motion comprising a plate connected to and movable as a unit with said device, a fixed finger carried by said plate and adapted to engage and move aid lever when said piston is moved in one direction to control the flow of liquid to one end of said device, a shaft carried by said plate and arranged parallel to said finger and positioned on the opposite side of said lever from said finger, a pawl fixed to one end of said shaft, a cam fixed to the other end of said shaft and positioned to engage and move said lever when said piston is moved in the other direction, a spring pressed pawl carried by said plate and in engagement with said ratchet and adapted to rotate the latter and said shaft to adjust the position of said cam relative to said lever progressively to vary gradually the axial traverse of said device in said other direction, and a fixed indexing stop positioned in the path of said pawl and engaged thereby when said device is moved in said one direction to bring said pawl into engagement with said ratchet to adjust said cam.

KENNETH E. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

